Making the grade Once a beef carcass has passed inspection, the Canadian Beef Grading Agency ( beefgradingagency.ca) assigns a grade to it. The top grades are Canada A, Canada AA, Canada AAA and Prime. Prime is the highest.

Aging beef For the best quality and tenderness, purchase beef aged at least 10 to 14 days.

How to cook steaks

If you prefer rare steaks, choose ones two and half centimetres or more thick. With that thickness, you can nicely sear the meat, while ensuring the inside remains rare. If you prefer the meat more well done, choose thinner steaks. Thick ones will take a long time to cook and dry out.

Don't cook cold steaks; they won't cook evenly. Let them warm at room temperature 10 minutes or more, depending on how hot a day it is.

Properly preheat your grill. If you don't, the meat could stick and you won't achieve nice grill marks.

Steaks become firmer as they cook. To see how it is progressing, lightly press the steak - don't squeeze out the tasty juice -in the very centre with your tongs or, carefully, your finger.

A very rare steak will feel quite soft; medium- rare steaks will be somewhat soft, but offer a little resistance. A medium steak will start to feel firm, but still have some give in the middle. Well-done meat will feel very firm.

Gauging a steak's doneness by touch takes practice. To see how your skill is progressing, cheat and make a small incision into the thickest part of a steak and peak inside to how it's cooked. After a while, you'll be so good at judging doneness you won't have to do this.

You can simulate how a steak should feel at various stages of doneness on your hand. For rare to medium rare, cup one hand and poke a finger of the other hand into the fleshy pad at the base of the thumb. It will feel quite soft, as a rare steak would.

Uncup your hand slightly, stretch out your thumb a bit, and when you poke you finger in the same spot it will feel firmer, as a medium steak would. Completely uncup your hand and fully stretch out your thumb. When you poke you finger in the same spot it will feel very firm, as well-done steak would.

Rosemary and Mustard Butter

Butter blended with fresh rosemary and whole-grain mustard makes a tasty topping for a grilled steak. Makes: Butter for 8 steaks Preparation time: 10 minutes Cooking time: None

1/3 pound (155 g) butter, softened

1 teaspoon (5 mL) very finely chopped fresh rosemary 2 tablespoon (30 mL) whole-grain Dijon mustard (see Note)

1 garlic clove, minced freshly ground black pepper to taste

Place the butter in a bowl and beat until light. Mix in the rosemary, mustard, garlic and pepper. Spoon the butter into an 8- inch long row on a 1-foot (30 cm) long, 6-inch (15 cm) wide piece of parchment or wax paper. Roll the butter inside the paper into a 1 1/2-inch (3.5 cm) thick log; twist the ends of the paper to seal. Refrigerate the butter until firm. (Butter will keep in the fridge for several days.) When needed, slice the butter into 1-inch (2.5) thick rounds, set 1 on each grilled steak and serve.

Note: Whole grain Dijon mustard is sold alongside the regular, smooth Dijon mustard at most supermarkets.

Asian-style Flank Steak With Ginger Sauce

Tough flank steak becomes tastily tender after marinating, as is done in this Asian-style marinade with orange, soy and ginger.

Makes: 4-6 servings

Preparation time: 30 minutes, plus marinating overnight Cooking time: Depends on desired doneness (see method) For the ginger sauce:

1/2 cup (125 mL) mayonnaise

2 teaspoon (10 mL) freshly grated ginger

2 tablespoon (30 mL) soy sauce 1 tablespoon (15 mL) freshly squeezed lime juice

pinch sugar splash hot pepper sauce

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate until needed. Can be made a day or two in advance of serving. For the steak: Combine all the ingredients, except the steak and salt, in shallow dish just large enough to hold the steak. Add the steak and turn to coat in the marinade. Cover and marinate in the fridge overnight, turning occasionally.

Remove the steak from the marinade; discard the marinade. Let steak warm at room temperature while you preheat your barbecue to medium-high. Lightly oil the surface of the grill. Season the steak with salt. Grill the flank to the desired doneness, about 3 minutes per side for rare, 4 minutes for medium rare, and 4 to 5 for medium. Rest the steak 5 minutes to allow its juices to set. Thinly slice the steak against the grain of the meat.

Divide the meat among plates. Dollop the ginger sauce alongside the meat for dipping.

3/4 cup (175 mL) orange juice

1/4 cup (50 mL) rice vinegar 1/3 cup (75 mL) soy sauce

2 tablespoon (30 mL) honey 1 tablespoon (15 mL) vegetable oil

2 teaspoon (10 mL) sesame oil One 2-inch long (7 cm) piece fresh ginger, thinly sliced

1-2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 small onion, halved and thinly sliced freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 1/2 (750 g) pound beef flank steak salt to taste